reader dialog: 29 Jan – 21 Feb

2007-02-27

Richard Moore

--------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2007 11:26:36 -0500
To: Richard Moore <•••@••.•••>
From: Ed Goertzen <•••@••.•••>
Subject: Response to Richard & Bo: Reader Dialogue Jan 29

--<snip>--

Community:

1/ Men live in a community in virtue of the 
things which they have in common; and 
communication is the way in which they come to 
possess those things in common. What they must 
have in common in order top form a community or 
society are aims, beliefs, aspirations, knowledge 
- a common understanding - like-minded ness, as 
the sociologists say. Such things cannot be 
passed physically from one to another, like 
bricks; they cannot be shared as persons would 
share a pie by dividing it into physical pieces. 
The communication which ensures participation in 
a common understanding is one which secures 
sibilant emotional as intellectual dispositions. 
- Like ways of responding to expectations and 
requirements.

2/ As soon as a community depends to any 
considerable extent upon what lies beyond its own 
territory and its own immediate generation, it 
must rely upon a set agency of schools to ensure 
adequate transmission of all its resources.

I'll warrant that of all of us communication on 
the Internet there are less than 1/2 of 1% who 
know the names and occupations of 5 of their 
immediate neighbours.

That is the way that the word community has been corrupted.

Community, regardless of the images of motherhood 
and apple pie it evokes, has come to mean an 
interest group, be that employment, religious 
sect or recreational interests.

Eric Hobsbawm, among historians world famous, has 
said in "Age of extremes" there is no longer a 
thing called community' in the original 
definition of the word.

Maggie Thatcher a famous neo-con, has said 'there 
is no longer a society, only individuals'.

I can think of no other way to break through the 
"abstract" relationships that we all take for 
granted than to "talk to the people", person to 
person.

Regards
Ed G

---

Hi Ed,

Real community, based on physical contiguity, has 
indeed been disappearing at a rapid rate. We need 
to recreate that kind of community, and I use the 
term in that sense, in hope.

cheers,
rkm

--------------------------------------------------------
From: •••@••.•••
Date: Tue, 30 Jan 2007 01:30:40 EST
Subject: Re: reader dialog - to Jan 29
To: •••@••.•••

like sitting in a cafe and hearing real conversations.
thanks Richard.

---

Hi Jim - my pleasure! - rkm

--------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2007 09:08:35 -0500
To: •••@••.•••
From: Ed Goertzen <•••@••.•••>
Subject: Re: Definition - Neighbourhood vs Community - Quote

Hi Richard:

As you are no doubt aware, as is Noam Chomsky, 
the use of language is the prerequisite to 
comprehension.

We, and most writers, use the term community and 
neighbourhood inter changeably.

Definitions have changed, but users of the words 
have not kept up with the changes in definition.

World renouned Eric Hobsbawm is quoted, "
         "The pervasive influence of neo-classical economics, which
         in secular western societies increasingly took the place of
         theology, and the influence of the ultra-individualist
         American jurisprudence, encouraged such rhetoric. It found
         political expression in the British premier Margaret
         Thatcherís: 'there is no society, only individuals'. Yet,
         whatever the excesses of theory, practice was often equally
         extreme. Sometime in the 70's, social reformers in the
         Anglo-Saxon countries, rightly shocked (as inquirers
         periodically were) by the effects of institutionalization on
         the mentally ill or impaired, successfully campaigned to
         have as many of them as possible let out of confinement ëto
         be cared for in the community'. But in the cities of the
         West there no longer was a community to care for them. There
         was no kin. Nobody knew them. There were only the streets of
         cities like New York filled with homeless beggars with
         plastic bags who gestured and talked to themselves. Pp337
         Age Of Extremes by Eric Hobsbawm

Neighbourhood clearly defines a people in a small 
geographic area, community does not!

Community increasingly, even exclusively defines 
people in communion, who talk to each other.
That defines a workplace, an interest group, or a worship gathering.
Since neighbours rarely talk to each other, they are not a community.

Regards
Ed G

---

See previous comments, just above, re 'community'.

I do not agree that people were forced out of 
institutionalization out of concern for their 
welfare. I think it was part of the neoliberal 
campaign to destroy entitlements.

rkm

--------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 31 Jan 2007 10:26:51 -0800 (PST)
From: Diana Skipworth <•••@••.•••>
Subject: Re: Barbara Ehrenreich:'Collective joy'
To: •••@••.•••

Dear Richard,

In Washington, D.C. I hung around a group of 
anarchists.  As you may know, they cover up their 
faces and dance around waving flags and beating 
the drums...  The D.C. police followed closely.

We chanted, "The People, united, can never be 
defeated!  The People, united, can never be 
defeated!"

I totally understand the point about dancing in 
the streets and the physical danger by the power 
who hold the guns.  There was no permit to march 
ON the U.S. Capital Building, but with their 
chanting, drums and courage, the anarchists 
defied the police.  How I admire them!  I 
followed along with my camera.  The anarchists 
thanked the people with cameras, as with nobody 
filming, who knows what might have happened to 
them!

As the sky grew dark and it was time to catch my 
bus ride home, the blue flashing lights followed 
the anarchist's progress around the capital.  I 
said a silent prayer for their protection as I 
took my leave.

Diana Skipworth

---

Hi Diana,

I am of course glad to see people standing up for 
freedom, but I am not comfortable with this 
business of wearing masks. I think we need to 
take note of the fact that when police do attack 
with their clubs and pepper spray, they usually 
go after the more peaceful protestors, not the 
ones with masks. The net effect of the 
'anarchists' is to make police brutality more 
acceptable to TV audiences. I see the anarchists 
as doing the job, usually inadvertently, of agent 
provacateurs.

rkm

--------------------------------------------------------
From: •••@••.•••
Date: Wed, 31 Jan 2007 15:16:18 EST
Subject: Re: Barbara Ehrenreich: 'Collective joy'
To: •••@••.•••

what a wonderful story, makes me want tostop writing you and dance.
best
Jim

---

As Emma Goldman said, if I can't dance, I don't want to be in your revolution.

--------------------------------------------------------
From: David Cameron <•••@••.•••>
Subject: Re: Barbara Ehrenreich: 'Collective joy'
Date: Wed, 31 Jan 2007 19:05:22 -0400
To: Richard Moore <•••@••.•••>

Dear Richard, perhaps I haven't been paying close 
enough attention, but it seems that with the 
"Akashic" posting and this one reviewing 
BarbaraEhrenreich's work, you have taken sort of 
a new turn...all to the good by me, if that is 
the case. While I am intensely interested in 
socio-political analysis and the virtual modeling 
of change, I am even more interested in what 
people can do now to reclaim their spiritual 
or"soul" heritage.

My wife, Nancy Sherwood (also like Ehrenreich, a 
grandmother) has for some years been offering a 
shamanic dance training that helps individuals 
access their "true" nature and/or reconnect to 
the more primal aspects of being human in a 
totally alive and conscious cosmos. The training, 
called The Mandala Hologram, makes ritual a 
natural aspect of daily life and utilizes 
mirror-neuron techniques in a group setting that 
encourages deep emotional catharsis, creative 
authenticity and spontaneous ecstatic movement.

It has been a hard road! Often the uptake has 
been hampered by our out-of-the-way location and 
non-mainstream lifestyle, as well as by how 
unusual and potentially frighteningly "different" 
one may appear to the general population if one 
participates and exhibits real change.However 
dozens of students have "graduated" over the past 
7 years,including some from the UK. Nancy is 
determined to see her work spread to help enliven 
and rehabilitate our modern culture. The Hollowed 
shall become Hallowed once Moore!

Publication of the Ehrenreich piece was 
accordingly courageous on your part and very 
supportive of Nancy's work. We both thank you. 
May I post it on a new website I am building 
(http://davesfreelunch.com) with full attribution 
to Gardner and yourself?

Which brings me to another topic-Given the way 
current internet searchengines work, cross 
linking of related sites can really boost site 
rankings and hence accessibility of information 
to seekers. I bring this up in part because I see 
that Escaping The Matrix has a ranking of less 
than 5 on Google. Your site is way too valuable 
to be so ranked! Would you consider a 
cross-linking program? I don't know much about 
this & you likely have access to those that do. I 
think you ask owners of sites that are 
like-minded (and you trust) to link to you and 
permission to link to them.

Thank you for your continued optimistic, 
intelligent, uplifting and encouraging efforts.

sincere regards,
David Cameron

------

Hi David,

Yes, I'm definitely trying to post 'positive' 
things to cj & rn, and use newslog for 
news/analysis.

Everything I post is available to post elsewhere.

I'm quite happy for people to link to our sites, 
but I find it difficult to take the time to add 
links to our sites.

best wishes,
rkm

--------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 7 Feb 2007 12:34:48 -0800 (PST)
From: Diana Skipworth <•••@••.•••>
Subject: Re: America: From Freedom to Fascism- a review...
To: •••@••.•••

Dear Richard,

Did you know Aaron Russo has cancer for the third 
time?  He is such a fearless one and someone I 
admire.  I just am starting on YouTube as 
greatbroad.  I haven't posted any videos yet, as 
my computer needs some upgrades, first.

Please also put video on YouTube about your trips to D.C.!!!

Some jerk kept trying to get into my Paypal 
account and my ID has already been stolen before 
and I guess I am kind of paranoid about 
electronic money.  So, I snail-mailed a check to 
Point Roberts, WA today for $1,000.  (I rushed 
and did it before I changed my mind, as money is 
tight for moving companies these days.)

The Feb. 5, 2007 Kane County Chronicle, pg 4A: 
"States begin revolt against national ID."  The 
Maine Legislature on Jan. 26 overwhelmingly 
adopted a resolution objecting to the Real ID Act 
of 2005.  The paper further states that within a 
week of Maine's action, lawmakers in Georgia, 
Wyoming, Montana, New Mexico, Vermont and 
Washington state also balked at Real ID.  They 
are expected soon to pass laws or adopt 
resolutions declining to participate in the 
federal identification network.

About a dozen states have active legislation 
against Real ID, including Arizona, Georgia, 
Hawaii, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire, 
Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming.

Missouri state Rep. James Guest, as Republican, 
formed a coalition of lawmakers from 34 states to 
file bills that oppose or protest Real ID.

"This is almost a frontal assault on the freedoms 
of America when they require us to carry a 
national ID to monitor where we are," Guest said 
in an interview Saturday.  "That's going too far. 
This does nothing to stop terrorism.  Don't 
burden the American people with this requirement 
to carry this ID."

---By the way, the overtaking of the United 
States of America, to me is similar to when the 
Inquisition happened.  The Church tortured and 
killed all those who opposed them as "heretics" 
while the ignorant masses cheered.

Regards,

--------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 10 Feb 2007 10:34:34 -0800 (PST)
From: Diana Skipworth <•••@••.•••>
Subject: Re: America: From Freedom to Fascism- a review...
To: •••@••.•••

Dear Richard,

I am not a great intellectual thinker, but rather 
an intuitive feeler.  And, when I saw this movie 
last July 2006 I felt I was suffering a panic 
attack.  I felt the same way in 1996 after 
viewing the British documentary, "The Men Who 
Killed Kennedy."

So what does someone like me, who lives in the 
suburbs of Chicago really know for sure.  Except 
I do agree "something's rotten in the state of 
Denmark," type of thing.  What had bothered me 
especially when Freedom to Fascism came out, was 
it lacked any support or mention by the 
MoveOn.org people.  They could have made such a 
difference, but chose not to back this film.

When Michael Moore did HIS documentary (Farenheit 
9/11), the MoveOn.org folks became fully engaged, 
flogging their members repeatedly to support Mr. 
Moore and making a big deal about us writing 
letters to the editor, having house 
parties, etc...

But when Mr. Russo's documentary was released, 
the silence was deafening!  There was no surge of 
support over the Internet by MoveOn.org and I 
have always wondered why.

So it happened I had a falling-out with 
MoveOn.org.  I told them I was through with them 
because it appears to me that they have sold-out 
to the established machinery.  I will no longer 
support them with $$ or activist activities, and 
I feel they have betrayed Aaron Russo as well as 
myself.

I am simply writing to get this off my chest and 
dump on you because of the provocative sentiments 
strike a chord.

Diana

--------------------------------------------------------
From: "Brian Hill" <•••@••.•••>
To: <•••@••.•••>
Subject: RE: 'Escaping the Matrix' reviewed in Rachel's Weekly!
Date: Fri, 9 Feb 2007 08:02:54 -0800
Organization: Institute  for Cultural Ecology

Richard;

Rachael's mag gets very wide and very activist circulation - this should be
good.

Brian in Willits

--------------------------------------------------------
From: "Thomas Greco -- CIRC2" <•••@••.•••>
To: <•••@••.•••>
Subject: Re: 'Escaping the Matrix' reviewed in Rachel's Weekly!
Date: Fri, 9 Feb 2007 09:50:03 -0700

Congratulations, Richard.
Great review. I'll post it on my blog, Tom's News and Views:
http://tomazgreco.wordpress.com.

Tom

--------------------------------------------------------
From: •••@••.•••
Date: Fri, 9 Feb 2007 12:11:07 EST
Subject: Re: 'Escaping the Matrix' reviewed in Rachel's Weekly!
To: •••@••.•••

it is a wonderful review. CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!

--------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 9 Feb 2007 16:45:58 -0800 (PST)
From: Diana Skipworth <•••@••.•••>
Subject: Re: 'Escaping the Matrix' reviewed in Rachel's Weekly!
To: •••@••.•••

Dear Richard,

I am thrilled to hear about this!  Kudos!!

Diana

--------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 17 Feb 2007 09:48:57 -0500
Subject: Re: Frances Moore Lappé : Time for
  Progressives to Grow Up
From: Rosa Zubizarreta <•••@••.•••>
To: <•••@••.•••>

Richard,

Thank you for sending out this awesome essay...

--------------------------------------------------------
From: "Brian Hill" <•••@••.•••>
To: <•••@••.•••>
Subject: RE: Frances Moore Lappe: Creating Real Prosperity
Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2007 21:04:11 -0800
Organization: Institute  for Cultural Ecology

What do others think of defining 'buying local' 
as buying from locally owned, socially 
conscious/ecologically sustainable producers 
anywhere in the world?  In other words, I would 
suggest we not be opposed to global 
transportation of locally produced goods as long 
as they are certified to be socially conscious 
and locally ecologically sustainable.  Because we 
live in a world that for the first time 
communicates globally, but we must still have a 
local focus.

Brian Hill

---

Hi Brian,

Sure, we need to be flexible. The big thing is to 
get rid of the corporate/financier middleman. At 
the same time, we need to take into account the 
energy wastage of long distance transport, when 
local producers can give us equivalent products.

cheers,
rkm

--------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2007 22:49:14 -0500
From: "Mark Batten-Carew" <•••@••.•••>
To: •••@••.•••
Subject: Re: The structure of modern Western imperialism: some thoughts

Just to clarify, the order of events is:
economic destabilization,
and if that fails, then political destabilization,
and if that fails, then military invasion.

There is a book that goes into great detail about 
this, called "Confessions of an Economic Hit 
Man", by John Perkins. He had the role of 
economic destabilizer for many years, and saw the 
consequences when his attack failed.

--------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2007 23:08:49 -0600 (CST)
From: <•••@••.•••>
Subject: Re: The structure of modern Western imperialism: some thoughts
To: •••@••.•••

I think what you say was more true in 1975 than 
now. It seems to me the fragmented 
powers/interests of the western states are more 
and more at each other's throats.

Also it's harder and harder to speak of the Third 
World because it has differentiated itself since 
1945.

Eg one of the chief US imperial impulses post 
1991 was directed at central Asia, by the Oil 
Mob.  Is/was central Asia the "third world"?

And while that was going on, the semiconductor 
and personal computing industrial empires 
flourished and didn't give three hoots about the 
Oil Mob.  One of baby Bush's first speeches noted 
this, obliquely -- he was talking about the need 
to bolster the neglected energy industry and 
pointed out with his simian smile that even the 
fanciest supercomputer has to be plugged into the 
wall now and then.

The Israeli interest amid the US is another 
fragmented power/interest that pursues its own 
ends often at odds with others.  Greg Palast's 
last book Armed Madhouse throws some light here 
(on serious differences between the Oil Mob and 
Likud Lobby as they hatched the Iraq war).

In short:  To speak of "the structure of modern 
Western imperialism" seems to me to presume too 
much structure and too much cohesion.  The scene 
seems more and more feudal and the warfare 
increasingly internecine.  (But this is already 
old hat.)

---

Hi newcombat,

Certainly any attempt to identify structure in 
world events can be criticized as being 
oversimplified. At the same time, it is all to 
easy to throw up ones hands and say "It's all too 
complicated to understand."

In mathematics, one talks about 'first 
approximations', 'second approximations' etc. If 
you have a reasonable 'first approximation', that 
gives you a good ballpark, and then you can talk 
about the discrepancies as discrepancies, 
narrowing the scope of what needs to be 
understood.

One of the reasons I posted that brief analysis 
was because I think the conflicts between the 
Western powers are highly overrated. Anti-war 
sentiments are high in places like Germany, 
France, and Italy, and political leaders like to 
act as if they are sympathetic. But how 
sympathetic they really are needs deeper 
inspection. We need to remember that people like 
Merkel are supported by the Bilderbergers, and 
we need to acknowledge that NATO is becoming more 
and more a full partner in imperialist 
aggression, and that UN 'peacekeepers' are 
playing imperial cleanup roles.

cheers,
rkm

--------------------------------------------------------
From: "William Engdahl" <•••@••.•••>
To: <•••@••.•••>
Subject: RE: reflections on Munich Wehrkunde 
remarks [Putin's speech at European security 
conference]
Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2007 06:50:48 +0100

Richard

For your reading
best
William

--<ship>--

Hi Bill,

I really appreciate that you send your new 
writings directly to me.  I always post them to 
newslog. You are, in my opinion, the foremost 
commentator on current geopolitics, with 
Chossudovsky as a close second.

best wishes,
richard

--------------------------------------------------------
From: Bill Ellis <•••@••.•••>
Subject: Re: The structure of modern Western imperialism: some thoughts
Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2007 08:10:03 -0500
To: •••@••.•••, Richard Moore <•••@••.•••>

         rkm>
         ... NGOs play an important role in imperialism, usually an
         unwitting one. Not only do they participate in the
         occupation regime, reducing the budget requirements of
         national occupation efforts, but they create an illusion
         that 'something is being done', which serves to placate
         Western populations. This is a brief outline. If you folks
         want to comment, we could explore this situation in greater
         depth. ...rkm

I like your brief outline and would be pleased to 
participate in the discussion.

I would only suggest that the "dominator 
paradigm" that you would like to end is more than 
a U.S. UK invention.  It's root go back to the 
Jewish Creation Myth that holed that man is the 
center of the universe which God created for his 
use;  the early Christian Church that taught that 
there was a hierarchy of domination that went 
from God, the the angels, to Man, to woman, to 
children, to other races and to the Earth itself, 
The Inquisition that by burning some 1,000,000 
"heretics" at the stake "convinced" other 
Europeans, to accept the God theory as truth; 
the Age of Colonization that with the flag 
(nationalism), the sword (technology, and the 
cross (Christianity} spread the domination 
paradigm world wide; and finally with the Adam 
Smith economics that makes "self-Interest," 
"competition," and Materialism the morality of 
the world.

Although a very different social/economic 
paradigm live and still lives in most non 
EuroAmerican cultures a scientific basis for 
cultures based on community, belonging, and 
mutual aid is not only emerging.
If you would like more on the GaianParadigm see:

      http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Bill_Ellis

---

Hi Bill,

Thanks for your comments. I first realized the 
central importance of the Garden of Eden myth 
from reading Daniel Quinn's, "The Story of B". I 
think that's one of the most revolutionary books 
ever published.

rkm

--------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2007 09:11:17 -0500
To: •••@••.•••
From: Ed Goertzen <•••@••.•••>
Subject: Re: The structure of modern Western imperialism: some thoughts

Hi Richard:

In ancient Mesopotamia the caravan international 
traders were also the international financiers 
and arms dealers.

They introduced metal coins as money to replace 
the clay disk that the god-kings of the city 
states used for money.

But they only loaned them to the citizens of the day, at interest.

The interest increased the numeric quantity of 
the money supply, but did not increase the 
quantity of metal.

The "Deficit Imperative" caused a national debt 
that could only be paid by the selling of slaves, 
who were then put to work in the mines to mine - 
more metal.

If a city state refused to pay its debt, the arms 
department of the caravan traders sold arms to a 
neighbouring city-state to pillage and take the 
slaves by force.

Has anything really changed in 8007 years?

Regards
Ed G

--------------------------------------------------------
From: "Dave Patterson" <•••@••.•••>
To: •••@••.•••
Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2007 12:06:26 +0700 (ICT)
Subject: Re: The structure of modern Western imperialism: some thoughts

Hi Richard,

About the main thing you overlooked in this was 
the central role of propaganda as dispensed by 
the MSM in support of all this. For the last few 
months I have been able to listen to the CBC 
radio, which is the Canadian version of BBC (I 
have been in Thailand for the last 12 years and 
until I got broadband in my room a few months ago 
could not get any radio) - and have been struck 
again and again by what is happening in this 
regard, from what used to be a very good national 
radio. The propaganda is blatant at times (and 
full spectrum, from the passing bewilderment 
expressed at those darn silly people who refuse 
to put seatbelts (and of course the 'good' 
citizens want the approval of those important 
folks on the radio) on to the continual 
boosterism for the Afghanistan invasion, 'support 
our troops!!'), less so at others ( the dog that 
did not bark in the night - what they do not talk 
about) - and I have the impression that many, 
perhaps most, of the 'journalists' actually 
believe what they are saying - that is how deep 
the indoctrination has been in Canada - so when 
people like you or I write them letters, they 
just ignore them, with no more than occasional 
references to 'fringe groups'.


This is the second thing I have been getting 
depressed about, how so many people seem to have 
been completely taken in by the propaganda in the 
public at large, and how unintelligent so many of 
those people actually seem - what can you do with 
someone who is truly indoctrinated, and is not 
interested in talking about it, or in people 
telling them so because they love their masters 
and trust their government and leaders fully, as 
they have been well trained to do? (oh, anyone 
will bitch about this or that particular thing, 
but in general it's the best goshdarn government 
anywhere! (they've been indoctrinated all of 
their lives to believe this, and do) I have been 
getting depressingly close to the conclusion, 
after decades of 'fighting the good fight' as 
best I could, that it may well all be hopeless - 
we are truly little more than people in a small 
rowboat bouncing on the waves in a dark night 
shouting at the passengers inside the captain's 
ballroom in the titatnic (not a real good 
analogy, as the condition of most of these people 
is nowhere near that luxurious, but the other 
seems valid). I hear people interviewed on the 
morning show (a local show from Prince Edward 
Island, which is sort of 'the sticks' of Canada, 
a poor-relative island province with a historical 
background of farming and fishing families - 
mostly really good people, of course, salt of the 
earth, hard-working and honest, but with a very 
constrained 'world view', with more or less 
complete trust in their government and media, and 
the attitude that even if they don't understand 
much of what is happening in the world, by golly 
if the government is sending our troops to some 
place on the other side of the world, then they 
must be doing something very good, the brave 
lads, and it is our duty to support them!! - etc 
and etc. And they do NOT want to hear anything to 
the contrary. (each week now the Island CBC has a 
'feature' of the wife of a soldier doing a verbal 
diary, some humor etc - by golly, these fine folk 
could never be involved in anything wrong!!!)

And the dumbing down of everyone is no theory, 
but a well advanced program - it is like reading 
a bad book or something to hear some of the 
people they interview, normal community people - 
their words of course indicate they know little 
about what is happening, but the tone of voice is 
what is most disconcerting, even 'adults' in 
their 20s and 30s and older, they are all like 
high school kids in adult bodies, with that kind 
of self-conscious, immature voice, a similar 
non-existent understanding of almost anything 
outside of their daily lives, almost all of them 
with that voice raised at the end of a sentence 
habit of teenagers describing something. I heard 
a 'major' talking to some troops preparing to 
leave Afghanistan a few days ago, and his voice 
was the voice of a high school senior talking to 
his football team after a game or something - 
sounded like he should still be in the Boy 
Scouts, not leading troops in a war anywhere - no 
wonder they're shooting civilians all over the 
place there.

And the hosts and newscasters are regressing 
equally - it gets quite irritating to listen to 
newscasts from PEI with readers who, again, sound 
like they are doing a high school broadcast - you 
know, the voices full of 'appropriate' emotion - 
hushed for bad news things, surprise and shock at 
other times, the hint of outrage, and hush again, 
when talking about 'evil terrorists' - the whole 
bit. On CBC, which, before I left Canada at 
least, was in the same ballpark as the BBC in 
terms of high-quality, intelligent programming 
and hosts. What a fall they have taken. And the 
announcers are all 'chirpy' sorts, everything's 
wonderful!! - and they are ALL on the gov 
programs, and if they have to acknowledge, at 
times, people who disagree with the gov programs, 
you can almost see, over the radio, their little 
disapproving pinched lips, the coldness and 
exclusion in their voices for these people who 
don't like this great society (but of course we 
will give them a say, occasionally - this is, 
after all, a democracy and they have a right to 
their opinion!).

The national programs are a little better, but 
only in the greater 'adulthood' of the announcers 
- the propaganda line is still the same, the 
boosterism for gov programs, the aggressiveness 
towards those they occasionally interview who 
oppose the gov programs (and only the tamest of 
these ever get invited, the 'token progressives' 
- those who could deal effectively with the 
propaganda, who understand the bigger picture and 
can elucidate it effectively, seem on their 'do 
not invite' list) - I've written a number of 
letters about these things, but none ever get 
answered or acknowleged. Which is not surprising.

The thing is, the CBC is the radio for the 
'thinking people' in Canada, that 5% or whatever 
who want more in their world view than they get 
from tabs and right-wing media. And they're being 
heavily propagandized now in a way they (we, I 
guess!) were not when I was last listening to 
that station regularly 12+ years ago. And I have 
to think that that propaganda is having at least 
some effect - certainly on younger people without 
the historical perspective of we older ones.

And there are, of course, still a lot of good 
things happening in Canada, and that is part of 
the propaganda too - look at the good stuff - 
it's a good country! - and so it is. But some of 
us see behind that curtain of goodness, that some 
rot is eating away at the inside of what we love 
so much, and it going downhill, on a slippery 
slope from which I fear it is going to be very 
difficult to recover, anytime soon - and 
certainly not without some critical mass of the 
people simply understanding what is happening, 
and wanting to do something about it - and that 
critical mass is what I am now starting to fear 
is never going to happen. (The future? Not sure - 
either they succeed with their '1000 year reich' 
and Mordor takes over - or they do a dog in the 
manger trick as the social movements driven by 
the South start to make advances and blow us all 
up - or maybe I am wrong altogether about the 
critical mass, and one day we will wake up and 
find that Cohen was right, and 'democracy 
(really) is comin..'. Or there's about a million 
other possibilities, of course - the X factor 
must always be considered, and it is still a 
wonderful world we live in, with many wonderful 
people doing many wonderful things as well, 
underneath the subset of grubby humans who are 
running most of it...)

Anyway, we keep fighting - take care, Richard, 
always enjoy reading your stuff. Thanks for 
sparking me to write something - been fighting 
against that sense of hopelessness for a few days.

Dave Patterson
Hat Yai, Thailand -
and
Green Island
http://www.rudemacedon.ca/lgi/ogi-home.html


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